Cyclone Phailin: India relieved at low death toll

By Mallika Kapur and David Simpson, CNN

Updated 10:22 AM ET, Mon October 14, 2013

Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast31 photos

Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – A woman walks near overturned boats in Pudumpeta, India, on Monday, October 14. Debris littered the streets and gaping holes were left in buildings after Tropical Cyclone Phailin pounded the eastern coast of India. Massive evacuation efforts helped limit the number of casualties.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – People stand in the overflowing waters of the Swarnrekha River in Ghaghra, India, on October 14.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – People drive past statues of Hindu gods and goddesses damaged during the storm in Berhampur, India, on October 14.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – Bhagwan, a coconut seller, sits in front of his destroyed shop in the town of Gopalpur on Sunday, October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – A woman returns to the village of Arjipalli on India's Bay of Bengal coast on October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – Janardan cleans his house of mud after overnight rains at the fishermen's colony in the town of Gopalpur on October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast31 photos

Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – A villager carries drinking water in bottles as she arrives at the cyclone-hit village of Arjipalli on October 13.

Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – A displaced family waits at the village of Sonupur, India, on October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – Indian truck driver Jairam Yadav speaks on his mobile phone after his truck carrying Toyotas was overturned by strong wind on the highway linking Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, India, on October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – A municipal worker cuts a tree uprooted by the cyclone to clear a main highway in Berhampur, India, on October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – A man carries his children in Sonupur on October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin slams India's coast – An man salvages a table stuck in uprooted trees fallen during the storm on a road in Berhampur on October 13.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Evacuated villagers take shelter in a school building following the cyclone warning in Berhampur on Saturday, October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – A young boy reaches a relief camp after being evacuated near Berhampur on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Evacuated villagers watch the strong winds and rain as they eat a meal in a temporary cyclone shelter in the town of Chatrapur, India, on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Evacuated villagers climb down from a truck at a relief camp near Berhampur on October 12

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – An Indian villager braves the strong winds and rain as he walks to safety in the village of Podampeta on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Evacuees leave the village of Sanabandha, India, on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – People run for cover following the cyclone warning at Gopalpur beach in Odisha, India, on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Evacuated villagers eat in a temporary cyclone shelter in the town of Chatrapur, India, on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – An man takes shelter at a school near Berhampur on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Villagers head for a cyclone center in the village of Podampeta, India, on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – A small truck takes villagers to a cyclone shelter in Podampeta on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Villagers walking to the cyclone shelter try to block the heavy wind and rain with umbrellas near Chatrapur on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – A villager sits in an empty courtyard as others evacuate the village of Donkuru on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Volunteers clear branches off the road in the village of Badabandha on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – A woman carries daily essentials as she walks in a heavy wind in the town of Gopalpur on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Villagers take refuge in a cyclone shelter in the village of Gokhorkuda, India, on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – An Indian woman carries her child as they leave their home in Donkuru on October 12.

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Cyclone Phailin menaces India's coast – Indian women signal to fishermen to return following a cyclone alert before evacuating their village in Gokhurkuda on Friday, October 11.

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Story highlights

NEW: At least 21 deaths recorded so far from Phailin impact

Odisha residents feared repeat of 1999 when 10,000 died

Evacuation of 900,000 credited with saving lives

Some coastal residents say they're still waiting for help

The last time a storm as powerful as Cyclone Phailin struck the eastern coast of India, 10,000 people died.

So the sense of relief is strong in the state of Odisha, where Phailin made landfall this weekend.

"I felt like I was going to die, everyone was so tense," said Raju Pradhan, who lives with his family in Odisha.

At least 21 were killed as a direct result of the cyclone, according to Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, Odisha state special relief commissioner. Every death is tragic, but considering Phailin was the strongest tropical storm to hit India in more than a decade, the toll could have been much higher.

About 40 miles inland in the state capital of Bhubaneswar, resident Prabir Panda said he and others were alarmed into buying food, candles and buckets by news reports comparing Phailin to Orissa and the Hurricane Katrina in the United States.

And he said he worried when a tree in his garden was blown down and others swung crazily in the wind.

But afterward, people in Bhubaneswar emerged to check out the damage and share their relief, he said.

Property damage in the city was limited to trees and small shops, he said.

Panda praised the evacuations of people from low-lying places, which he said ran against "a cultural feeling that we normally don't move out of our houses whatever the cause."

"This time, the government ensured people are forced to move out," he said.

He said government disaster management teams and military forces had been on the job in his city for two days.

"Everyone is happy with the way the local state government has managed it this time," Panda said.